Often when Black men obtain a certain status in life, they often get titled for that status. If it’s business, that’s the only light people see them in. If it’s sports, that’s the only way people can see them. But Black men are much more than what they do. They are much more than people give them credit for. The perfect example of this is Randell McShepard.
On the surface, McShepard is a consummate professional. Currently, McShepard is the Vice President of Public Affairs and Chief Talent Officer for RPM International Inc., a $7.3 billion-dollar chemical coatings/paint company headquartered in Medina, Ohio.
Mr. McShepard is currently serving on several boards in Northeast Ohio including The Cleveland Foundation (Vice Chair), Destination Cleveland (Vice Chair), and Citymark Capital, LLC. He is Co-Founder and Chairman of PolicyBridge, a public policy think tank serving the Northeast Ohio region since 2004.
He is also the Co-Founder of the Rid-All Green Partnership, a thriving urban farm in Cleveland’s Lower Kinsman neighborhood that farm raises tilapia fish, grows organic vegetables, produces compost soil, and leads environmental stewardship efforts.
To understand McShepard’s success, a journey into the past is required to see how life shaped his future. McShepard did not have any plans for college.
“I was a first-generation college student; I did not have aunts and uncles who went to college before me. My mother was from the rural South and finished school in the eighth grade. So, there was no one talking to me about college,” McShepard said.
One day in his senior year he got a message from his guidance counselor. His counselor noticed that McShepard was one of the few students who had not approached her about going to college. As the two talked, they discussed McShepard’s options for attending higher education.
“She asked me what I wanted to study, and I shared that I had two passions at the time. Music was one and business was the other one,” McShepard said. “I was the drum captain for the drum core for the JFK marching band and I also was in the All-Ohio high school orchestra for three years.”
McShepard was excellent at reading music. She recommended that he attend a local school, Baldwin Wallace College (BW) because they had a great music program and an excellent business school at the same time.
McShepard and his counselor devised a plan to attend Baldwin Wallace and he formally applied. He decided to enter college as a music major but hit a snag when applying.
“When I applied for college they said, ‘We regret to inform you that you did not pass our test.’” McShepard continued, “They ran me through a battery of tests to see if I could understand how to read music in all of the percussion instruments.”
McShepard failed the test because he had never played the xylophone, which is a percussion instrument. It was the end of April of his senior year and that was the only school he had applied to. He did not have a plan B. Dejected and feeling defeated, he sat and pondered his next options.
Because the xylophone was one of the areas that McShepard would need to know to attend BW he did not know what to do. Luckily for him, the person who ran the music program offered McShepard an opportunity to study the xylophone over the summer and take the test again before the fall semester started.
In the professors’ 30 years of teaching at BW, two other people attempted the xylophone summer course, and both failed to pass the test to get into college. McShepard would be the third to try.
He took the summer classes all summer, rode a bus to campus at night after work, and ultimately attempted the test again. He passed the test with high marks and was allowed to enter school as a music major that fall. For people like McShepard one must wonder, was it luck or hard work that helped him get into college?
“I attribute what I have been able to do to a couple of things. Firstly my heavenly father for all my blessings. When I look back at all the things I have been able to do, I realize that I am so blessed.” McShepard continued, “I also give a lot of credit to my mother, who was a single parent who raised three of us and I never recall her missing a day of work. Fast forward, once I started my career, I emulated my mother’s work ethic and didn’t take a sick day for 26 years. That work ethic that has remained with me to this day.”
McShepard eventually changed majors in college and graduated, on time, with dual degrees in Psychology and Communications. After graduation, in addition to work, McShepard decided to embark on a music career. He joined a singing group called Odyssey and Company that performed all over the city and country. The group even toured Japan for five weeks and played in numerous cities throughout Canada.
“My singing career is a bit of a good and bad story because we almost made it, but tragedy would strike over and over again,” McShepard said.
They would experience major highs and lows during the time they were together. They were able to record an album under the tutelage of Eddie Levert. The group also performed on national television with Natalie Cole on a show called Big Break and opened for several major recording artists.
A few days after the completion of the album, they took pictures to shop the album with record labels. But before they could realize their dreams, the lead singer of the group died in a car accident. One year after that, they attempted to record again, and the 40-year-old producer they were using died unexpectedly from a heart attack.
“With all of that happening I thought to myself that maybe music was not my future,” McShepard said.
From there he went on to land an opportunity with the Cleveland Bicentennial Commission. Cleveland was celebrating its two-hundredth birthday and put together a commission to host celebrations and activities all over the city for the full year.
“If there was ever a position that entailed getting to know some of the most important people in the region, it was that job,” McShepard continued. “We put together over forty projects for the Bicentennial and I met and networked with leaders at all levels of business, government and community. It was an incredible opportunity for me.”
From that position, McShepard landed roles in various positions that continued to build his resume and hone his skills as a businessman. In May of 2015, he was the first African American elected President of The Union Club of Cleveland, a prestigious business and social club that has been home to the region’s corporate and civic leadership since 1872.
McShepard’s previous community/civic leadership roles have included: Board Member of the George Gund Foundation; Chairman of the Manufacturing Advocacy Council of the National Association of Manufacturers; Chairman of the Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Workforce Investment Board; Chairman of the Sisters of Charity Foundation; Vice-Chairman of the Fund for Our Economic Future and Vice-Chairman of Business Volunteers Unlimited. He also served on the Executive Committee for the Cuyahoga County Government Reform transition in 2010.
While working in the nonprofit sector he had a chance to meet and work with the CEO of RPM International Inc. and the two of them developed a great relationship.
“My mother used to say, ‘You never know who’s watching,’” McShepard said.
RPM’s CEO told McShepard if he ever decided to leave the non-profit field to give him a call. Once McShepard decided to look for new opportunities, he reached out to the CEO (Tom Sullivan, Sr.) and was offered a job. That offer has turned into a 24-year career with RPM.
McShepard is considered the ultimate Black man because he has never allowed himself to be placed into a box. His work in the community, his love for music, and his drive for business success allow him to feed all his interests.
Blacks are often put into a box and are not allowed out once they decide to pursue a career. But McShepard bucks that trend and is a shining example of what it means to be a successful Black man.
His love for his wife and family, coupled with the work he does in the community should be a blueprint for how young Black men should attack their goals. Randell McShepard is proof that if you drum to the right beats, the music just keeps getting better and better.
